"Halny" track listing:

"Listening to the track feels like hearing a mesh of Abruptum, if they had more musicality and less screaming, mixed with the psychedelic feel of Nachtmystium and the rocking atmosphere of Solstafir."

Poland’s Furia has made something truly unexpected, and quite possibly even actually unique, with the “Halny” EP. Consisting solely of one monstrous 20 minute track, “Halny” either doesn’t follow any rules established in the music world, or Furia has simply made up new ones and tossed aside the old ones. The EP approaches the avant-garde style in a less outlandish way than other bands that claim the title, and consistently keeps up a high quality of sound regardless of where the music heads.

Starting off on a soft and low key note, the song begins with a quiet guitar and no other instruments. Eventually the sounds of breathing in and out pop out of the silence, creating the feeling of being alone out in the void of the universe. A series of sighs and other experimental noises punctuate cymbals and a series of random guitar notes.

It might seem like the EP is going to stick solely to ambient sounds, when a string of psychedelic guitar work suddenly takes over the arrangement. Yells, shouts, chants, and growls pop in and out as necessary to fill out the music, but they aren’t necessarily the focus of the music. The entire assembly of sounds is somewhere between odd and bizarre, but unquestionably engaging and interesting.

There are lots of big vibrating background sounds and minimalist guitar parts without backing instrumentation, which leads some of the various segments to exude the “shoe gaze” feel. Unlike many other bands in that particular style, the production is excellent and the music never becomes droning noise. Each simple segment eventually breaks out into random blasts of black metal madness, which is exhilarating and keeps the song flowing smoothly. The second half of the 20 minute track heads much deeper into the black metal side, but always stays melodic and continues to include the psychedelic elements.

“Halny” revels in the simplicity of music, but is still incredibly interesting when the more complex and heavy parts inevitably make their way to the front. The EP continuously ebbs and flows, throwing huge waves of music crashing against the listener, and then following up with gentle eddies and currents of sound. Listening to the track feels like hearing a mesh of Abruptum, if they had more musicality and less screaming, mixed with the psychedelic feel of Nachtmystium and the rocking atmosphere of Solstafir.

Highs: Engaging and unique music that ebbs and flows between simple and complex.

Lows: A few minor segments feel like they could have been broken up into other tracks or cut out.